Issues on engine not starting after car rolled in accident

[dark_kazekage]

hey there,
i just crashed and rolled my car last 2 weeks..its a civic ek4 with b18c type r..everything in the engine bay pretty much maintains its form except for a crack on the head/rocker cover. i tried starting the engine after but it would not start..so what i want to know is that without even stripping the engine to check everything, what are some of the issues that might be causing the problem? cheers

[bennjamin]

possibly the engine is seized due to some sort of oil starvation from gravity displacing oil into the head / away from the pickup.
Does the engine turn over at all when you try to start it ? Can you rotate it by hand ( with a socket / ratchet and bar on the crank) ?

[mytfoz]

could be crank as bennjamin said

[dark_kazekage]

aight..i'll check again. thanks guys

[ECU-MAN]

does the engine turn ?


how long was the car upsidedown for ?


remove the spark plugs and crank overe the engine, make sure the gearbox is in neutral,

you could have 1 cylinder full of oil.

[VT3C]

everything in the engine bay pretty much maintains its form except for a crack on the head/rocker cover

that's the place you DONT want to see any damage bro !!!

[Civic89]

If the crack in the head is bad enough you could have dropped a few cylinders = Rebuild. As previously stated, It could have been starved of oil and seized = New engine. Or you could just have oil in the cylinders... So drain the oil, pull the plugs out, put new oil in and turn it over for a while, put plugs back in and hope it goes.

[hitoriko]

pics of the crack on the engine please - im geussing that its going to be a complete rebuild for you buddy

and any pics of the accident

[dark_kazekage]

hey guys..checked it. the engine turns.
the car was upside down for abt half an hour to an hour b4 it was pulled.
i'll try some of your suggestions n i'll put in a pic of the car after the accident

[~Sp33~]

Do you actually mean head, or just valve cover.

[dahondr98]

Chances are the inertia switch has tripped in the accident. According to the Haynes manual, it's behind the glovebox, and is accessible through the open glovebox - just push the switch to reset it. Most fuel injected cars have them, to save high pressure fuel spraying everywhere if the fuel lines are ruptured in an accident.

[ECU-MAN]

this generation Honda does not have this type of switch

[dahondr98]

this generation Honda does not have this type of switch

As I said, according to the Haynes manual that covers the 95-00 Civic (manual no. 4050-272), it does. Whether that means all models, I'm not sure. The manual seems to cover most of the models that we have here in Australia, and a few more that were available in Britain, but not here (eg the British-made 1.8 VTi, which used the B18C4 DOHC VTEC motor). It certainly covers the B16A2 motor.

To quote Haynes (Page 4A.16, Fuel shut-off inertia switch section), "The fuel shut-off switch is a safety device which automatically cuts off the fuel supply in the event of a sudden impact or collision. To reset the switch after an impact, depress the button on the top of the switch. The switch is located behind the passenger side glovebox on 3-door Hatchback, 4-door Saloon and Coupe models (accessible through the open glovebox), and behind the cigarette lighter on 5-door models (pull back the carpet and reach behind the console)."

Of course, it may just be British Civics that had it. I know of a least 2 other British fuel injected cars which had inertia switches, the 1972 Triumph 2.5PI (a relative had one he stacked!), and the Land Rover Discovery 3.9 V8 (read that either in the owner's or workshop manual when I owned one a while ago). Luckily, I never needed to reset it, despite giving it plenty of bangs off road.